Yesterday, one our our toilets unexpectedly backed up and started to push water past the wax ring onto the floor. I worked to clean it up as quickly as possible, but soon discovered that the water was leaking onto the drywall of the ceiling below, about a 10' by 2' patch of the ceiling was noticeably wet. We had a plumber come out within an hour who was able to remove the clog and fix that issue. He recommended a remediation company come out to prevent mold, mildew and start treatment since the leak would have been from the sewage side of the system. They came out within the hour, assessed the extend of the water damage, took moisture readings, and recommended starting treatment, and that it would be "atleast $3000 if not more, plus the cost of reconstruction." My brain was going 10,000 miles an hour at that point thinking I needed to have that started as soon as possible, so I accepted their offer. They asked if I wanted to go through my home owner insurnace to cover it. I knew I had a $500 deductible and that the costs would more than exceed it, so I said yes, and started a claim with the company (Erie). I figured, "this is why I have HO insurance right? To cover unexpected things."
Now that I've had 24 hours to calm down and read some things, I feel like I may have screwed myself, and that I should have just paid out of pocket. Since the claim was filed, I can't take it back, and it'll be on my history when it come to things like future renewal premium rates, and possible getting dropped in the future if I have a 2nd issue that causes another HO claim.
I've owned the house for 14 years and never had a HO claim in that time. I have had 2 auto glass claims in the past 7 years, including 1 in the last month. I went through insurance for them because of the "glass coverage is free for repair" fliers they'd send from time to time.
How screwed am I? HO claim submission
byu/ax1onn inInsurance
Posted by ax1onn
3 Comments
I would personally not submit to insurance, just hire someone to clean it up then bring in a drywall guy and painter. Resetting a toilet takes me 15min
I don’t think you’re “screwed,” at least not over this incident. Where you’ll be screwed is if you have another incident. You’re probably correct that it would have been better to handle this out of pocket, but too late now. Don’t beat yourself up over it. You’re hardly the first person to file a claim like this. I know I did. You’ll be OK.
Probably.
A water claim is pretty high on the list of claims types you don’t want. Out of the 12ish primary market carriers we write for, two will take new business with a water claim and one of them requires a full plumbing inspection, automatic water shut off, and leak detection at all major appliances (that use water).
Most of our carriers won’t non-renew you for a water claim, but at least three will 100% non-renew for a water loss, regardless of the dollar amount.
At this point, it sounds like it’s already filed, so it’s a little late to try to back track. Let your insurance fix the damage and pray you don’t see big rate increases that force you to need to shop your policy.